The Guardian
by BlackFox12
Summary: Instead of dying, Amiboshi is pulled into Miaka’s world, in time to stop a young teenager from killing herself. However, dying was supposed to have been Hanae’s fate. What does it mean now that she’s alive when she wasn’t supposed to be?
1. Chapter 1

**The Guardian**

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Fushigi Yugi, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I do, however, own the character Hanae

**Summary:** Instead of dying, Amiboshi is pulled into Miaka's world, in time to stop a young teenager from killing herself. However, dying was supposed to have been Hanae's fate. What does it mean now that she's alive when she wasn't supposed to be? And what does that entail for the 'Universe of the Four Gods'?

**Warning(s):** Spanking; some depressing issues – such as suicide, depression, self-harm, etc.; possible ooc:ness; possible mistakes in the canon

**Author's Note:** I am making Amiboshi slightly older in this fic than he is in the manga, because I think it works better. Just to let people know. Also, I'm not trying to belittle the issues I'm dealing with in this story – I think that these are very real problems, and Hanae has to deal with them. Even though Hanae isn't me, she has one of the problems that I currently do… This fic is quite serious in most parts, and shouldn't be taken lightly

* * *

The sound of rushing water filled his ears as he stood there, staring at the priestess of Suzaku. Why was she doing this?

"Stop it, Chiriko! Why would you want to hurt anyone when you play such beautiful music on your flute?! You cheered us up! You soothed our hearts! Your flute shouldn't be used to hurt people!"

Miaka's words hit Amiboshi right in his heart. They hurt. He felt his eyes widen, and was powerless to stop the shock from showing on his face. How did she know exactly the right things to say? But then, he shouldn't have been that surprised. In the short time he had known her, Miaka had quickly proven herself to be an incredibly sweet, gentle girl. Even if she did have an unhealthy obsession with food.

In any case, Miaka was mostly the reason why Amiboshi had felt such hesitation in trying to kill her and the others and disrupt the spell to summon the god Suzaku. He couldn't help it – he had begun to care about all of them.

Amiboshi stumbled back a few paces, forgetting, for the moment, where he was. His eyes widened as he felt the wood crumble beneath his foot. But maybe… Just maybe, this was for the best.

Amiboshi didn't even fight as he fell backwards and into the water.

Then, abruptly, there was a flash of blue light… and Amiboshi was somewhere unfamiliar.

* * *

Hanae hunched over in the corner of her room, her hands over her ears. Of course, that did absolutely nothing to drown out the sounds coming from downstairs.

Hanae felt the tears trickle down her cheeks. They were fighting again, and, like always, about her. She didn't need this. She'd had a terrible day at school, with the kids continually teasing her. Then, to top it all off, she had come home to find that her mother had forgotten to get her dinner once again.

Hanae had cooked her own dinner without complaining, but her father had been upset about it when he had got in. He had shouted quite a lot at his wife, causing Hanae to lose her appetite. She had tipped her dinner into the bin, and quickly made her way upstairs to her room, which she felt was her only sanctuary.

It certainly hadn't been the first time that Hanae had missed one of her meals… In fact, it was something that she was doing quite frequently now. She was even making herself throw up sometimes after she had eaten.

It didn't matter how much weight Hanae lost. When she stared at herself in the mirror, she only saw a fat, ugly teenager with lanky hair and odd eyes. It wasn't like her parents even noticed most of the time. Oh, sure, sometimes there was a teacher who picked up on it… But Hanae would start eating just enough to make the teacher back off, before reverting back to her old habits.

The fourteen-year-old pressed her face into her pillow, feeling her tears soaking the material. Her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. _I didn't even get a chance to tell them what had happened at school,_ she thought, biting her lip hard. Yui and Miaka were still missing… But that was no big surprise. Everyone was so worried about them… even the usually spiteful older girls.

_I bet no one would care if I went missing, or even died._ Hanae knew that it was the truth. After all, who would care about a dumb girl like her? Her parents? Hah, that was a laugh. The only thing that they cared about was finding new things to argue about with each other. And it wasn't like Hanae had any friends at school. In fact, the only ones who had been anything approaching nice to her had been Yui and Miaka… With them, Hanae had felt almost like she could be a normal girl with no problems, just like they were.

Of course, now they were gone…

Hanae slowly let go of her pillow. Her eyes went curiously blank as she carefully rolled her right sleeve up to reveal her biggest secret.

All up Hanae's arm, usually hidden by the sleeves of the clothes she wore, were numerous scars and healing cuts. Hanae frowned to herself, looking closely at her arm. Ah… There it was. A small patch of skin, untouched by any knife marks. Well, that was about to change.

Hanae straightened up, and headed over to her dresser. Opening the top drawer, she felt underneath her clothes, and finally found what she was looking for.

A small knife with a serrated edge, just like the ones found in a kitchen. Well, actually, that was where Hanae had got it from. After all, it was hardly like one little knife would be missed.

Hanae ran her fingers reverently over the black handle, and set the point of the blade against her unmarked skin. Slight pressure on the handle caused the point to go into her skin enough to draw a few drops of blood, which slowly slid down her arm, approaching her fingers.

Hanae just stood there, feeling her unhappiness draining away with her blood. She closed her eyes, revelling in the pain. This gave her full and complete control over her body. It was a sensation of power, of being able to do something, to have something, that no one else could take away.

But, just this once, it wasn't quite enough.

Hanae's eyes fluttered open again, and her eyes went to her wrist. The feeling, the temptation, to end it all was incredibly strong. All it would take were two simple cuts… No one would even miss her.

And she would be free from this despair…

Ignoring the blood from the original cut she had made, Hanae pressed the point of the knife against her wrist, about to make the slash that would mean she was giving up completely on life. That would mean that she was finally allowing despair to overtake her, to win.

Abruptly, there was a flash of blue light that startled Hanae so much that she dropped the precious knife. The light was so intense that the teenager had to cover her eyes to avoid being blinded.

_What's going on?!_

No longer able to feel the light attempting to sear its way through her eyelids, Hanae slowly dropped her hands from her eyes. Upon taking in the sight before her, she let out a gasp.

There was a boy lying on the floor of her room, apparently unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Guardian**

**Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Fushigi Yuugi, and I'm not making any money from this fic. Also, I don't claim to really know much about these issues other than what I've experienced myself – while I haven't attempted self-harm, I've had the urge to before.

Incidentally, it is not ok to handle self-harming with spanking or any other punishment unless it's totally consensual. The most important thing is to make sure this person is psychologically all right, and the best way to do that is not through punishment, but by caring, being there for them, and attempting to understand their feelings.

**Summary:** See Chapter One

**Warning(s):** Spanking; some depressing issues such as suicide, depression, self-harm, etc.; possible ooc:ness; possible mistakes in the canon

**Author's Note:** Thank you for the feedback I've had for the first chapter of this. Every review I get really means a lot to me, so thank you so much!

* * *

Amiboshi's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself staring up into dark eyes set too wide in a pale face that was currently filled with concern.

_Where am I?_ Amiboshi wondered. _Why aren't I dead?_ He fell in the water – he was supposed to have drowned. In some ways, he'd wanted to drown. To pay for what he had done.

"Who are you?" the owner of the face demanded, her voice shaking slightly. At least she wasn't screaming. Not yet, in any case. She didn't look too good, though. Certainly not that healthy – she was too thin, for one thing. And were those scars all over her arm?

"A-Amiboshi…" the boy replied, finally finding his voice. He looked around with a frown, seeing nothing that he recognised. "Where am I?"

"In my room," the girl responded, her mouth forming a scowl. "And if you don't get out now, I'm calling the police!"

_Calling?_ Amiboshi thought, feeling confused. _Would the police hear her from inside here?_ And it wasn't like he was much of a threat… He barely had the strength to stand, after all. However, before he could explain all of that, the seventeen-year-old caught sight of the blood trickling down the girl's arm. "You're bleeding!" he exclaimed. His voice sounded almost… fuzzy, even to his ears.

Amiboshi struggled into a sitting position, clutching at his head a moment as pain flashed through it. "Ow…" he groaned, feeling suddenly nauseous. He fought the urge to throw up, and eventually won. Gradually, the throbbing in his head eased, until the pain was just about bearable.

Where was he? Everything seemed so unfamiliar. He couldn't sense his brother's chi any more… Had something happened to Suboshi? The very thought sent intense fear through Amiboshi's body and mind. Suboshi was his twin brother… What would he do if something had happened to him?! Suboshi was the only family Amiboshi had left… He couldn't imagine life without his twin.

_Or… Maybe something's happened to me?_ Amiboshi wondered. _After all, the last thing I remember is falling into the water… Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?_ But… One wasn't supposed to feel pain in the afterlife, right? And this didn't look anything like Amiboshi would have expected the afterlife to look like.

"Are you all right?" Abruptly, the girl had lost her look of hostility, and was kneeling beside Amiboshi. She started to reach out a hand to place on his shoulder, but then hesitated, drawing back. "You don't look so good…" she commented.

Amiboshi shook his head slightly, trying not to cause worry. He still couldn't even imagine trying to stand just yet, though. His legs felt limp, and he was worried that he would fall over the moment he tried to get to his feet. "I'm… all right," he replied, his voice a little hesitant. "I just feel… really out of it, I guess…" He blinked a few times, his forehead feeling quite hot.

"You don't look all right," the girl commented, gently pressing the back of her hand against Amiboshi's forehead. Then, she drew back sharply, her eyes wide. "You have a fever!" she exclaimed.

_That would explain why I feel so sick,_ Amiboshi thought, closing his eyes a moment. _Well… It looks like I'm not actually dead… I suppose I should be relieved._

The girl slowly straightened up, her hand falling away from Amiboshi's forehead. "I should go call a doctor…"

Amiboshi's eyes opened again. He was about to protest, but his eyes fell on the bloody knife lying on the floor. "You cut yourself?" Then, he frowned, his eyes flickering between the knife and the cut on the girl's arm. He wasn't stupid – for whatever reason, this girl had apparently been cutting herself.

Ignoring the weakness in his legs, Amiboshi pushed himself to his feet. He swayed slightly, but grabbed onto the bed for support, breathing heavily. When he felt that he could finally stand up without falling, the seventeen-year-old grabbed onto the girl's arm instead. "You… need to get that… looked at…"

The girl opened her mouth. Her lips formed words, but Amiboshi couldn't hear them over the sudden roaring in his ears. His whole body shuddered violently, and he slumped forward, barely aware of the fact that he was falling onto the girl.

* * *

Hanae let out a gasp as the strange boy suddenly fell onto her. Almost automatically, the teenager wrapped her arms around his waist in an attempt to support him. He was extremely heavy, though.

Or was that simply because Hanae wasn't exactly strong?

_I should call the police,_ Hanae thought, biting her lip slightly. There was a strange boy in her bedroom… He could be some kind of burglar. Had it not been for the fact that he was obviously ill, Amiboshi - if indeed that was his name - might even have tried to murder Hanae.

_So why aren't I turning him in to the police?_ Hanae wondered. Well, first of all, what exactly could she say? That a blue light had appeared in her room, and when it had faded, there had been a boy lying on the floor? Yeah, right. Even to her mind, that sounded ridiculous.

No one would believe her. No one ever believed her.

"So… What do I do with you?" Hanae spoke out loud to the boy. She couldn't just turn him out into the streets – he seemed to be really sick. She should probably call a doctor or something.

Of course, then how could she explain away Amiboshi's presence? Calling the doctor would present the same problems as calling anyone else.

_I guess I'll have to take care of him…_ Hanae thought with a slight frown. _At least until I know more about who he is, and what he wants here._ She glanced around the room, and then dragged Amiboshi over to her bed. She slipped her hands under his arms, and finally managed, with great difficulty, to get him more or less lying on the bed, even if it was in quite an awkward position.

Hanae brushed her fingers lightly over the cut she had made in her arm, and then walked over to the knife lying on the floor. She stooped and picked it up, just holding it reverently for a moment.

Her original intention had been to slit her wrists… But she was not quite that into despair anymore. Hanae ran her fingers over the smooth blade a moment, and then carefully wiped the blood off of the serrated edge with a piece of tissue before slipping it back into its hiding place.

Hanae could still hear the shouting going on from downstairs. With jerky movements, she grabbed another piece of tissue, and rubbed at the cut she had made in her arm, hard enough to cause new jolts of pain to shoot through her body. Right now, it was the best she could do.

_At least my parents wouldn't care enough to come up into my room and find him,_ Hanae thought, rubbing at her eyes. She probably looked a mess, what with her eyes all red from crying. Not that she really cared. She rarely, if ever, worried about her appearance. Why should she? Nothing that she could do would make her ugliness go away.

So what was the point?

Hanae tossed the blood-soaked tissue into the bin, and grabbed a bandage from the bottom drawer. She wrapped it around the cut she had made, giving a slight frown, mainly to herself.

_I'm going to have to start using my legs or something else soon,_ Hanae thought. _I'm running out of unmarked skin on my arms._

A soft groan from her bed brought Hanae's attention back to the strange boy who had appeared in her room. Shaking her head slightly, Hanae lay a hand against his forehead. He was burning up pretty badly. She was going to have to get to the chemists and get him some medicine.

Hopefully, they wouldn't ask too many questions. Maybe if she said that he was her cousin from out of town or something. Hm…

_And why am I trying to help him?_ Hanae wondered, even as she went to get a damp cloth to try and cool Amiboshi down. _I've only just met him… I don't fear him, even despite everything. He's just… I don't know._ Hanae couldn't put her feelings into words. She just knew that she didn't see Amiboshi as a threat.

Hanae placed the cloth on Amiboshi's forehead, remembering that she'd read somewhere that if someone had a fever, they had to be cooled down. Would ice perhaps help at all?

_Would there be enough in the freezer?_

Hanae started to straighten up, leaving the damp cloth on Amiboshi's forehead. However, she was then stopped by a gentle hand resting on her arm. Looking down, Hanae found herself gazing into dark eyes, glazed from the fever and pain, but gentle.

Amiboshi was awake.


End file.
